Riverside Parents Criticize District Communication During Heat-Related Emergency

At Monday's Board of Education meeting, Riverside Elementary School parents criticized the district's lack of communication and overall leadership during last Thursday's heat-related incident, where six students were taken to area hospitals and treated for heat exhaustion after rehearsing for a concert in an un-air conditioned gym.

Temperatures reached the mid 90s that Thursday, and was one of the hottest days of the year.

Heidi Amorese, a Riverside parent who was in the lobby of the school during the emergency, said she saw one child lying unconscious and receiving oxygen, and others lying down with wet rags on their foreheads. "There was no backup plan," she said to the board. "You were negligent to the safety of the children at Riverside that day."

She added that teachers appeared panicked, and that "scared the (expletive) out of me."

Other parents said they were upset that the district didn't inform them of the emergency — many said they found out from a local news broadcast —  and that teachers and administrators did not explain the situation to parents after school let out. That led to widespread panic spread among parents who arrived at the school to fire trucks, ambulances and swarms of police.

Parents added that they did receive a Connect Ed message — the district's phone service that alerts parents to vital school information — that the spring concert was cancelled, but not about the emergency at the school. 

"We feel the administration could have gone down to Riverside to help the parents," said Riverside's co-PTA president, Patty Leake. "We need to learn from our mistakes. These parents needed faster communication."

Board of Education John O'Shea deemed the district's communication with parents as "terrible" and board members vowed to rectify the situation.

Dr. William Johnson, superintendent of schools, said the cost to install air conditioners in an elementary school gym would run about $300,000, but he will also look into putting floor fans in the gym to keep it cool. "We've agonized over this since this occurred," he said of the overall incident.

On June 9, the entire school — about 162 kids — were rehearsing in the gym for the spring concert that was scheduled for that night. Fourth and fifth graders were singing and dancing on risers, but at around 2 p.m., several began feeling sick. Those students were taken to the library, which is air-conditioned, and six students and a teacher were taken to the hospital and treated for heat exhaustion.

Those children were home and safe by 6 p.m., school officials said.